I stumbled upon this handy chart yesterday, though I have no idea where it's from (which also means I can't vouch for its accuracy). It lists the big releases of 2011 divided into consoles and PC, letting us see at a glance what is exclusive or limited to which systems.

(click the chart for the big version)

We can more or less just ditch the Wii from this discussion already. Man, what a poor year it's going to have. Ignoring that however, it also seems the 360 is going to have a pretty damn lousy year compared to the PS3 and the PC. Only 3 exclusive titles compared to the PS3s 20 isn't very assuring, and there are even a few multiplatform games that will appear on the latter but not the former. The opposite is only true for one game: XCOM. The 360 probably has a few promising XBLA-titles up its sleeve though, but they fall outside the scope of the chart.

The chart should also put to rest any speculation that the PC is dying as a gaming platform.

Thanks for posting this chart. While I'm rather surprised at the lack of exclusives for the 360, there's nothing exclusively for the PS3, or "not for the 360" that would drive me to getting a PS3. It does look like I'll finally have to get a new gaming PC however.

I'm a bit surprised at seeing Tropico 4. I've read a lot of unhappy comments about Tropico 3, especially for the console edition having a population limit bug that was apparently never addressed. Maybe that's why it's going to be for the PC only.

Happy to see not only Forza 4 but also Test Drive Unlimited 2 and Dirt 3. Watching too much Top Gear (the good UK version) is turning me back on to racing games. Still no decent rally games however.

And I see that Microsoft is getting back into the flight simulator business. Good news if they keep modding accessible to the fans.

It's too early to make any concrete judgments about how the year's going to look. A portion of the games on that list are going to get delayed to next year, and there's going to be games released that haven't been announced yet. Of course, the 360 is likely to be lighter on exclusives than PS3 or Wii since MS has been offloading first/second party developers for a while now, but it'll still do fine since multiplatform games generally do a large chunk of sales on it.

This list tells me that sony has made a lot of new game announcements (or has pushed back a lot of holiday games) while microsoft hasn't made too many announcements yet.

Wouldn't matter much if that was true. Companies don't generally announce games and release them in the same year. If Microsoft has something big up its sleeves that hasn't been announced, chances are we won't see it in stores until 2012.

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Also, since it's been six years since the 360 came out, I bet this year we'll see an announcement for a new generation of consoles for 2012.

No chance in hell! Microsoft just launched Kinect, and Sony launched Move. These are very obvious attempts to extend the current generation's life cycle. I do believe we're going to see the first announcements in 2012 or perhaps as late as 2013 though, but I don't think there's even the slightest chance that we'll see anything this year as both companies want to keep their new brands going strong (particularly during the next holiday season).

Ni-ce chart! I think I'll print it out and start to cross titles as they're released and I'll pick them up. The neat thing is how many PC and PS3 exclusive titles I wasn't aware of. I like the Disgea series, and there's a 4th one on the way for the PS3. That MMO Tera is beginning to get my attention. I'm also glad there's a new Ratchet And Clank on the way.

This list tells me that sony has made a lot of new game announcements (or has pushed back a lot of holiday games) while microsoft hasn't made too many announcements yet.

Wouldn't matter much if that was true. Companies don't generally announce games and release them in the same year. If Microsoft has something big up its sleeves that hasn't been announced, chances are we won't see it in stores until 2012.

That's not really true. Nintendo's the one from this year that sticks out in my mind, but they had a ton of exciting new announcements. Metroid Other M, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Epic Mickey, Goldeneye, Donkey Kong Country Returns. All out this year. Only the new Zelda game was announced as 2011.

This list tells me that sony has made a lot of new game announcements (or has pushed back a lot of holiday games) while microsoft hasn't made too many announcements yet.

Wouldn't matter much if that was true. Companies don't generally announce games and release them in the same year. If Microsoft has something big up its sleeves that hasn't been announced, chances are we won't see it in stores until 2012.

That's not really true. Nintendo's the one from this year that sticks out in my mind, but they had a ton of exciting new announcements. Metroid Other M, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Epic Mickey, Goldeneye, Donkey Kong Country Returns. All out this year. Only the new Zelda game was announced as 2011.

Sure, I'll concede on that, but you can't really use Nintendo as an example for anything. They operate by their own rules.

This confirms that somehow this year I'm going to upgrade or replace my PC - just a few too many potentially great titles I want. That's a very strong exclusive lineup for the PS3, almost enough to compell me to get one. I have to admit though, the titles I'm really looking forward to -DAII, ESV:S, ME3, SWOR, DeusEx HE, DSIII, Shogun2, MS Flights, Witcher2, TR - are multiplatform or exclusive to the PC. There's exclusives on other platforms I'd like, but there's no way I'm going to have the $ to buy them - other than Zelda of course.

This list tells me that sony has made a lot of new game announcements (or has pushed back a lot of holiday games) while microsoft hasn't made too many announcements yet.

Wouldn't matter much if that was true. Companies don't generally announce games and release them in the same year. If Microsoft has something big up its sleeves that hasn't been announced, chances are we won't see it in stores until 2012.

That's not really true. Nintendo's the one from this year that sticks out in my mind, but they had a ton of exciting new announcements. Metroid Other M, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Epic Mickey, Goldeneye, Donkey Kong Country Returns. All out this year. Only the new Zelda game was announced as 2011.

Sure, I'll concede on that, but you can't really use Nintendo as an example for anything. They operate by their own rules.

But everyone else is starting to follow those rules!

Honestly, though, do you think we'll get through E3 with only 3 big exclusives for the 360 (plus XCOM, which didn't count because it's also on PC)?

That's the other problem with lists like this: they always leave off the smaller games that blow up after release. For example, I expect that six months prior to release, Bayonetta wasn't on the radar of more than a few of us, but when it came out, suddenly it was hot shit. Same with Darksiders.

Completely forgot about Stronghold 3! If any game series pushes me to get a new PC - it's definitely Stronghold. What makes it so unique is that every player gets to build up their own Castle (even in your standard RTS skirmish mode) complete with all kinds of buildings inside of it, food granaries, barracks, iron smith, wells, an executioner stand to keep your people in check, and so on.. and every player has their own King, which if he does, you lose. You can put your King (which is just a regular character on the map like everyone else) somewhere in your Stronghold backed up by a couple of swordsmen to protect him.

Come taxes I'm sure I'll be looking at a new PC.

And the PS3 list is looking really good as well.

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"A gladiator does not fear death. He embraces it. Caresses it. Fucks it. Every time he enters the arena, he slides his cock into the mouth of the beast."